Beit Iba

Beit Iba, Sunday, 19.11.06 PM Observers: Alix W., Aliyah S., Susan L. (reporting) Summary Occupation and checkpoints: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."(Ecclesiastes) And so it was on this summery mid November afternoon with seagulls flying over herds of goats on the already greening hills. After Qalqiliya, the settlement building continues, if anything at a faster pace: three to five large shoveldozers are at work on the south side, close to the road. What is being built there is anybody's guess…. There is little activity outside the Jit olive press, none at all at Deir Sharaf, where the only olives that still remain to be picked are close by the minimarket, in the beautiful olive orchard surrounding the carefully tended houses that lie hidden behind the gaze of passers by. 13:30 Jit Junction. The usual monstrosity of a rolling checkpoint is not yet in evidence. Just two soldiers at each side of the junction, just one waiting vehicle on one side, none on the other. 14:10 Beit IbaToday's soldiers, we're told by one of the porters are "Lovely, lovely." A grinning soldier has waved him on without any ado. As we arrive at the vehicle checking area, a smiling E., the second lieutenant, comes over to tell us, without being asked, that there are no restrictions on any travel today, no matter from where. Indeed, his words bear out his statement. Traffic moves freely, for once there are even more cars from the Deir Sharaf side, a total of five, trying to get into Nablus, as opposed to only three coming out of the city: a most unusual reversal! A Safari arrives: a change of shift, but the old guard keeps on working, cheerfully munching on breadsticks while preparing for their departure, but there's no let up in the checking. Under the command of Second Lieutenant J. (or Y. -- depending on how spelling is transliterated from Hebrew to English) the always difficult situation for the Palestinians at the best of times turns into a nightmare – a repeat of what we observed exactly one week ago. An immediate change of atmosphere and, once again, there's "no new thing under the sun." 14:25 -- at the central pedestrian checking area, there are two men in the detention compound. They have been there about half an hour. Why? Evidently, they tried to go around the checkpoint, and J. (or Y.) is now intent on meting out maximum punishment although neither names pops up on the GSS computer as having significance. B., one of the two DCO representatives today at the checkpoint, eventually -- an hour after our arrival and an hour and a half after the detainees were first put into the compound -- calls in their IDs, but not before we have phoned the Humanitarian Center of the army, been given the run around by them, as by the second DCO representative, P. Everybody seems to uphold the notion that punishment is, indeed, fine, and that Palestinians can be held for four hours at will without any compunction. That was certainly not the case a couple of years ago when punishment was deemed inappropriate for an army to dole out…. When we leave, nearly ninety minutes later, the two men are still there. For the first hour of this new shift, it seems that the "white line" of last week (harassment of MachsomWatch women to stand behind a more or less invisible white line), has been forgotten. True, when J. (or Y.) shouts, tension mounts. Soldiers follow suit, shout at Palestinians or from the pedestrian checking area to the vehicle checking post, and J. (or Y.) shouts at the soldiers and give orders to the DCO representatives and keeps everybody on a very short leash. He yells at B., the DCO representative, reminding him to make certain that all men lift up their jackets, their shirts and their undershirts after they come through the turnstile. He positions a soldier, gun pointing straight at them, by the women's lane, beyond which the young men have to pirouette and perform a semi strip tease. He tells one soldier he should be doing one thing, he commands another soldier to do something else. He shouts orders at vehicles coming through to be checked, to move back, why or where to is irrelevant. As J. (or Y.) shouts, the tension mounts. The soldiers at the vehicle checking area now shout at drivers, and four porters, three with donkey carts are held up and each plastic bag prodded and searched – a marked contrast with the joshing that went on with the former shift and these checkpoint regulars. Lest we forget the way MachsomWatch is treated, we should add that J. (or Y.) lectures us on what Palestinians have to be taught, making excuses for the way he is acting and, of course, he continues to pester us as to where we do or do not stand. 15:00 -- the atmosphere of just forty five minutes ago has changed completely – for the worse. The line of vehicles lengthens in both directions, as does the line of pedestrians waiting to be checked. Both DCO representatives say they can do nothing: they are not the commander of the checkpost. 15:10 --worse follows in that humiliation is now added to harassment. First one woman student is seen to stand, quite forlornly, at the central checking area. Why, we soon find out. The military policewoman inside the checking post emerges, goes towards the lock up, the young woman is made to follow, J. (or Y.) bringing up the rear. Both women step inside the lock up. The military policewoman says something to J. (or Y.), who closes the metal door, stands outside it, his gun at the ready. Within the next fifteen minutes, two other women students are treated to the same despicable behavior, always pulled out of the line by J. (or Y.), with one of the DCO representatives telling us that their "numbers appeared on the list." We follow the second young woman, a mathematics student who passes the checkpoint every day. "I've not done anything," She tells us. We can do nothing either, except hang our heads in shame. 15:30 -- a colonel and his "adjutant," bearing the usual communication pack carried by a checkpoint commander, stands across from the checkpoint with a group of three, obviously Israeli, men. We think nothing of it, but ten minutes later, as we leave, noting that there are two new concrete, still unused, walkways by the quarry entrance (perhaps thoughtfully positioned so as to protect pedestrians from the lakes and puddles which typify Beit Iba on rainy winter days), the group stands, talking, on the other side of the roadway. One of the men comes over to us, in friendly fashion announces his name, saying we're "Women Watch" (evidently we're being observed)! The Colonel, A., proudly announces to us that he's in contact with Hanna B. three times a day, and that these men are the contractors who will make this checkpoint bigger (and better, is the underlying message). As we move on, we grab take the opportunity to tell Colonel A. about the present shift at Beit Iba.